St. Louis is designated as a Talent Hub by Lumina Foundation!

Tue, 05/29/2018 - 16:00

Lumina Foundation, in partnership with the Kresge Foundation, has designated St. Louis and six other communities across the country as Talent Hubs.

St. Louis earned this designation by meeting rigorous standards for creating environments that attract, retain, and cultivate talent, particularly among today’s students, many of whom are people of color, the first in their families to go to college, and from low-income households.

The six other cities designated as Talent Hubs join 17 cities awarded the designation in 2017 and include Corpus Christi; Detroit; Elkhart County, Ind.; Las Vegas; Mobile; and Rio Grande Valley, Texas.

St. Louis Graduates is the lead for the St. Louis Talent Hub designation and has been granted $275,000 to build on its collaborative efforts to address equity gaps in degree completion.

The St. Louis Talent Hub team includes St. Louis Community Foundation, fiscal sponsor for the St. Louis Graduates network, as well as the St. Louis Regional Chamber. Five higher education institutions are partners in the Talent Hub – Maryville University, Southeast Missouri State University, University of Central Missouri, University of Missouri-St. Louis and Webster University.

“Receiving the Talent Hub designation is validation that this work matters, and it is vital to the future of our region. St. Louis is not likely to reach the 60% goal for degree attainment without eliminating educational disparities for low-income students and students of color,” said Alan Byrd, Jr., Co-Chair of St. Louis Graduates, and Vice Provost for Enrollment Management at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.